自人类开始有意识地进行设计活动起，设计实践就不可避免地与一定社会的伦理思想和伦理规范发生紧密的关联。人工产品会直接或间接地对人类的行为、生活方式产生影响，而其所具有的功能和价值取向对人们的道德生活产生潜移默化的作用。当人类发展进入后现代社会后，由于科技、消费、文化、哲学思潮等因素的全面介入，设计实践具有越来越浓厚的伦理色彩，其所包含的伦理因素也朝多层次性和复杂性方向发展。不仅设计、生产制造、消费等环节被纳入伦理观照的范畴，而且后现代社会价值观多元化的语境，使该时期的设计实践更偏向于以多元化的价值观念为切入点来对人们的生活状态与生活方式进行反省式的思考，继而提供了从伦理视野来考量后现代设计的丰富资源。后现代设计实践基本上集中于“继承”、“修正”、“破坏”、“重建”、“反思”几个方面来反映伦理思想与问题，如对现代主义设计讲求功能严谨性的继承；对忽视情感体验的修正；破坏设计的理性秩序、调侃传统道德、戏谑精英文化；重建更为自由、平等的存在价值以进行精神上的自我救赎，反思人类的生存方式等。以上体现了本文写作的出发点，即厘清后现代设计在多元化价值观影响下的伦理表现与思想，有助于目前也正处于多元化的价值背景之下的当代设计在纷繁芜杂的价值表象中抽离出与合理、适度的生活方式相适应的设计伦理思想来进行实践。本文着重围绕着后现代时期主要的伦理观念与价值取向在设计领域的反映以及所引发问题展开述评，具体涵盖在以下三个层面。首先是后现代社会的伦理观念在设计领域的体现和对设计发展的影响，如负载着消费主义价值观的标签性设计，在“玩世不恭”的道德心态影响下出现的各种激进设计团体，责任伦理意识对可持续设计发展的影响等。其次为后现代设计发展中出现的伦理问题，如设计师的精英身份所引出的伦理问题，“物尽其用”伦理意义的消解等。最后对当时人类存在的文化与价值意义及相应的存在方式、状态等的探讨，也是本文所尝试进行阐释的。
The relationship between design and ethic become tight since human began to work at design consciously. On one hand, products designed influence peoples’ behaviors and lifestyles; on the other hand, the functions and ethical meanings of those products act on foundation of peoples’ moral life. Especially, in the post-modern society, with the developments of science and technology, consumption, culture etc., the relationship between design and ethic tighten much more. Not only have those procedures, such as designing blue prints of products, manufactures, consuming, become more ethical, but also design in the post-modern society focuses on introspective reflections on ways and states of human life with perspectives on diversified value views in the culture background of post-modernism. The main ethical thoughts and phenomena of post-modern design are following: continuing functionalism of modernism design, improving on the state of emotional needs being neglected; opposing those rationalism orders in design field; teasing traditional morality and elite culture; reflecting on ways of human living etc.. All above embodies the aims of this paper, which is to provide some value ideas to the development of contemporary design for finding out design ethic that accord with reasonable lifestyles through researching the thoughts of post-modern design ethic. This paper will discuss the phenomena and problems that ethical concepts of post-modernism arouse. For example, how did the consumerism value and concepts of obligation ethic influence the post-modern design, how did designers’ elite status result in some ethical problems and so on. Besides, significance and ways of human existence will be discussed through commenting on the thoughts of post-modern design ethic in this paper.
